Silicon Valley venture capitalist Shervin Pishevar accused of sexual misconduct by multiple women
Shervin Pishevar, a leading Silicon Valley investor, has been accused of groping, forcibly kissing and sexually harassing multiple women, according to a Bloomberg report published late Thursday.
The early backer of Uber and co-founder and managing director of Sherpa Capital is facing accusations of sexual misconduct from five women who spoke to Bloomberg on the condition of anonymity.
A sixth woman, Uber executive Austin Geidt, was allegedly groped by Pishevar at a party and later subjected to unwanted sexual advances, according to colleagues who spoke to Bloomberg.
The five women all charged that Pishevar exploited his position as a major venture capitalist to lure them into meetings before making unwanted sexual advances.
They said they were afraid to speak on the record because of Pishevar’s penchant for filing lawsuits and his influence in the tech industry, the Bloomberg report said.
Pishevar could not be immediately reached for comment, but a representative for the investor told Bloomberg that Pishevar did not touch Geidt at the party. The representative also said of the accusations from the five women, “We are confident that these anecdotes will be shown to be untrue.”
One of the women, an entrepreneur seeking investment, said Pishevar forcibly kissed and groped her after a dinner meeting.
Another woman seeking career advice said Pishevar “tried to put his tongue down my throat” after a 2013 dinner meeting in San Francisco.
A woman reported that while attending the Web Summit in Dublin, Ireland, in November 2013, she was sitting between Pishevar and another man on a couch inside a hotel suite when the venture capitalist displayed explicit images on his phone.
“They start showing me photos of female genitalia,” the woman said. “It became really scary. The other guy was just really, really nasty, and Shervin was just laughing and swiping the photos.”
Earlier this year, Pishevar was arrested in London after a woman accused him of raping her in a hotel. He was released and never charged.
Pishevar, who is also the co-founder and co-executive chairman of Virgin Hyperloop One, is the latest Silicon Valley heavyweight to be accused of inappropriate behavior. Others include Justin Caldbeck of Binary Capital, Steve Jurvetson of DFJ and Dave McClure of 500 Startups.
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